Interprete Me

What moves the protagonist of Death by Magic, Drummond Money-Coutts, is the imagination of the public about illusionists’ feats that ended up not working. That is: the proposal here is to re-do the magic tricks that took the lives of the people who tried to execute them. That alone is enough to take a look at the first season of this project, which is coming now on Netflix, because it is, in fact, breathtaking (watch here).

Few things mess with our head more than illusionism. The magic around this has made a lot of people famous over the years, but like every profession, it has its risks. If you search the internet, you will find several professionals who died trying to do the trick of their lives. These attempts usually involve risky situations where the magician must find a way to escape before being struck down. In Death by Magic, we follow Drummond Money-Coutts’ journey in trying to do what these people couldn’t.

All in the name of art

Death by Magic is a good example of how much we are attracted to this type of work. Illusionists and magicians are very charismatic people who can “fool us” with their tricks that involve drawing public attention to something else while true magic happens out of people’s eyes. Films like “The Illusionist” and “The Prestige”, both from 2006, despite focusing on fictional stories, show how are the lives of these people that win the audience by making impossible things happen before our eyes.

Here, however, there is no fiction. It is a series that follows the trajectory of Drummond Money-Coutts, an English magician who set out to do something that so far, almost no other professional partner has tried: to perform the tricks that have brought death to its creators. And for this, he travels the world to know – and show us – the history of each one of these magicians and illusionists who passed when trying to execute something never seen before. And to accomplish these feats, he relies on a different audience in each episode. They serve as witnesses to the audacity of this 32-year-old guy who faces dangers that can cost his life, all in the name of art.

There are sequences that really take the breath away from the viewer. The tricks that run underwater are, of course, those that make people most apprehensive. Those who watch from home are already very nervous watching – and who is in the audience, watching live, go through moments of true tension accompanying Money-Coutts defying himself in a monumental trick. There are also episodes where time is the main villain: when he, for example, shuts himself up in a trunk on a railroad track, with a high-speed train coming towards him. Watching Death by Magic, therefore, is an exercise for the nerves.

Love by the craft

However, nothing Money-Coutts does is free. He has a true love for his craft, and it transpires every time he visits the graves of the ancient magicians who gave him the inspiration to perform, and also when talking about this dangerous but truly enthralling art.

By travelling around the around, doing what nobody had the guts to do, Money-Coutts turns Death by Magic into a sensational series, both for those who share with him the love to the art of illusionism and for those who love a jaw dropping experience.

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Trailer and additional information about Death by Magic Netflix

Synopsis 1: His charm, impeccable. His tricks, astounding. But make no mistake – with these stunts, life and death is no exaggeration.

Synopsis 2: Magician Drummond Money-Coutts travels the globe, sharing his infectious love of his craft and attempting feats that proved fatal to others magicians.

Age rating: 12;

Release year: 2018.